October 2019

Autumn is Here!
Where did the summer go! Feeling rather cheated that we had
so much rain in June, July and August and so little sunny days.

We had about one week of nonrainy, nice fall weather but then it snowed on Sept 22 and again on Sept 28.

I love the gorgeous changes of colour that happen in the fall.

September 28

Not as much snow as Calgary and area but still way too early!

Morden Ruby rosebush

My Morden Ruby rose took a long time to get going this year but no wonder with our lack of sun this summer. It had a huge number of blossoms by October but the flowers were smaller than usual. Unfortunately the frost was threatening them and I cut the stems off to bring the stems into the house to enjoy them in a vase.

My gorgeous John Davis rose had a great number of blossoms on it as well and it was looking so beautiful! I would highly recommend this rose bush. It sets buds early, starts blooming in a timely fashion in June and then continues to bloom non-stop for months until the frost shuts it all down in October.

Quick Fire Hydrangea

I love my Quick Fire Hydrangea shrubs which I planted about 3 years ago. I'm all about doing things/ growing things that are easy, less work with high returns and this Hydrangea is one of them. Quick Fire is hardy, non fussy and it gets little single white flowers which turn pink in August/ Sept. then a darker pink in October. .

Hosta 

I've forgotten the name of my Hosta, but this one never fails to please. It is non fussy and gets this pretty clusters of flowers in early August which last until Jack Frost arrives.

Red Deer River fall colours

October winterizing work:

 I clipped off the remainder of the Monkshood in the Round Angel Bed and clipped off Maltese cross in that same bed, plus the round bed and bottom of the Rock Garden.  I pulled out most of the Bachelor Buttons from the Round bed and next to the house, trying to leave some seeds behind. I took out most of the Calendulas (had a bumper crop of them this year, Yay!) from the end of the Stackstone bed and next to the house, shaking off a lot of the dried seeds for next year.

Both Calendulas and bachelor Buttons (Cornflowers) will reseed themselves by just leaving their seeds on top of the soil, no fuss!) 

I chopped down the Hollyhocks in the Stackstone bed and next to the house. Only the one in the stackstone bed actually had any seeds, so I dropped a few in the flower bed to start a few babies. 

The Hollyhocks next to the house did not do as well as usual. They did grow eventually and did bloom but  not as well as usual. 

Clematis.

One of my new Clematises, the Ville DeLyon died back early so it may not survive to regrow next year.  My other Clematis next to the house ( I think its a  Jackimanai Superba) lasted all summer . It grew well, but the main growing stem with most of the buds got pinched off somehow and I had to cut it back so it had sparse flowers as it is only 1 year old.  Hopefully next year it will do better.

I also have a clematis in the vegetable garden which I left there for lack of placement spots, but I bloomed really well once it got going. It for sure is a Jackimanai Superba and next year I will replace the defunct (most likely) Ville De Lyon.

I clipped off some of the leaves on my Day Lilies to use as mulch for my rose bushes. I gave the rose bushes a drink of water first, but we had snow and then rain a couple of times so Im not too worried about dryness this year. I put peat moss on top of the mulch as well. This week (October 16) I wrapped the bushes with "Better Than Burlap" and yarn.  It was a gorgeous sunny day +17C and I had a surge of energy after my meeting in town to get them all done. 

I dug a hole in the vegetable garden and sunk my newest rose bush, Morden belle into the ground there, pot and all. Next spring I will probably put it in the Round bed between the Monkshood, facing the house. Or if we move, I'll dig it up and take it along :)

Orange cana lily bloomed all summer

I dug up my Firebird Dahlias, one from the Stackstone bed and one from the yard tub, knocked the dirt off the tubers and brought them into the laundryroom to dry. Then I found a box for them and added peat moss to keep them till spring. 

I also dug out my fabulous Thomas Edison Dahlia which had huge blossoms as big as my open had in a deep purple colour. I think it got well fertilized. 

I dug 2 Dianthus out of my flower boxes  and planted them in the Round bed.  

In Vegetable Garden

1 lavendar

1 clematis

1 rose bush

1 peony (for Renae)

1 perennial grass

Now I just have to dig up my cana lily and try to overwinter that too. 

The vegetable garden did quite well. The swiss chard and carrots were the best this year. The dill took a long time to grow in the raised bed but the ones that came up at the top of the rock garden were much earlier and bigger. 

The beets were small and few unfortunately. The peas did well too but the beans were very disappointing. The bean plants kept dying and only one survived and had a handfull of green beans on it.

Squashes and zuccini were the most disappointing this year. They leaves got mildew really badly from all the rain and I didnt treat them so the zucchini plants died after producing only 1 zuccini worth mentioning. The spaghetti squashes were later and we managed to get one that was good. There were a few tiny ones on the plant but they didn't amount to much.

Next year its important to get the mildew problem under control early.

Fall lake trails 

Slugs/ Ugh!

The beer traps worked but I discovered something easier to use- oats!

If you spread a thin layer of oats on the soil the slugs eat it, puff up and die.

Need to remember that for next year.

Geese are practising their flights to get ready for migration. I love to see them and hear them flying overhead to and from the lake.

 More 

I wish I could really capture the beauty of this. The snow geese were dancing across the clouds and the sunshine was reflecting on their white feathers in such a beautiful shimmering pattern, like a white sparkling necklace moving across the sky! It was magically beautiful! 

Soon another winter will arrive.

More August

More August 2019
This year August has much more still in bloom, in fact my Firebird Dahlia is just opening the petals on 3 blossoms today (Aug 28) and my Thomas Edison purple beauty has one open as well.  Hoping for a late frost so that I get to enjoy the rest of the buds opening up as well.


Tomatoes and Vegetables

The tomatoes are slow to ripen on the plants and are later than usual. Again, I blame the last of sunshine this summer.

August 7 Super Sensation

The Super Sensation had the most number of tomatoes on it and the Lemon Boy had the least.
The first tomatoe to ripen on the vine was actually an Early Girl even though that plant had the least amount of sunshine. because of where it was located.

Early Girls tomatoes

Lemon Boy

Lemon Boy 

Beef Steak

Beef Steak tomatoes

Peppers did really well. We had to pick most of them green and put them in a box in the starage space but they will turn colour there.

Sweet Peppers

August Roses

Morden Centennial

Morden Ruby rose

John Davis rose and bachelor buttons

More

Columbines

Wild Bee Balm

Geraniums and dianthus

August Beauties Aug 1 to 7/19

Zinnia grown from seed Aug 2

August Beauties

August Beautiful Blossoms Continue
Only  2 of my numerous lavatara seedling survived transplanting but they both looks great.

Lavatara in Stackstone Bed Aug 2

Lavatara in Round Bed  Aug 3

Aug 3 calendula Stackstone bed

I love how tough calendula are! Once you have them growing in your garden, you can easily have them for years. Let some go to seed, them just toss the dried seeds on top of the soil and they are so hardy they will survive the coldest winter and sprout new plants in spring. They will grow in sun or shade, in wet or dry conditions. How perfect is that!?

Aug 2 Hollyhocks 

Aug 1 wild peony only 1 bloom

Orange Sunflowers started in the greenhouse

More Maltese Cross in Round/Angel  Bed

Never Alone Rose Bush is very hardy.

Never Alone Rose bush Aug 3

Evening Song bird therapy

It was a beautiful evening and I decided to sit out on the balcony to enjoy the view of my garden. What a splendid idea that turned out to be! 

The silence after the weekend warriors all left was wonderful and the bird activity was great to watch. The finches and chickadees flew back and forth between the feeder and the saskatoon branches. The robins danced around in the yard and went for a bath at the edge of our little pond. Even the hummingbird made an appearance and flitted around from flower to flower, actually sitting still at one point. I tried getting a photo of him, but he always seems to know and is off like a shot. 

It was a magical time. :)

There's a hummingbird in this shot somewhere! 

If you look carefully you might see a bird or two. 

Jewels of July 2019

July 3/19 new Morden Belle rose

What a rainy July we had! In the 13 years that we have lived here, we have never had this much rain. It is usually a very dry month.

Two of the lavatara that I started from seed are blooming the rest all died after I planted them out.
(1 in Stackstone bed is huge and the Round Bed lavatara is also looking great.

Dahlias are one of my favourite flowers.
The 2 small dahlias that I got as bedding plants and planted in deck pots are full of blossoms now, looking gorgeous,  and have a lot of new buds (one on the balcony and one on the main deck.)

My new Thomas Edison Dahlia has been living in the greenhouse and then outside the greenhouse next to the tomatoes for many weeks. It has thrived and is gigantic and full of buds now.
The 2 Firebird dahlia that I over wintered and started from tubers in February are doing well, but slow to bloom because of our lack of sunshine this summer. One Firebird is in the Stackstone bed by the lavatara and one in the big yard tub by the telephone pole (surrounded by yellow bidens and one yellow Osteo daisy.)

The Tahitain sunrise tuber that I saved from last year is doing really poorly and I will be composting the whole pot soon. It had some bugs in the soil a few weeks ago and I treated it with Neem oil. it started to come back then took a turn for the worse again. I'm pretty much giving up on it.  :(

Top of rock garden
At the end of July the Morning glory had been blooming for about a week. The 3 sweet peas that I started from seed are all growing and blooming. They took a while to get going this year. Most are white. I was hoping for more of a variety. But, hey, Im happy they survived.  I guess they are not fond of too much rain either.

Cosmos, where are you!??  I threw a bunch of cosmos seeds on the soil in my rock garden and long bed, but nothing germinated at all. I thought I had 2 or 3, but turns out they are dill! :D
Did I mix up my seeds?   The 3 or 4 seedlings that I had started in the pot in the greenhouse dried out sadly when we were away for a few days.

Note to self:  Buy new Cosmos seeds next year.

I love this Julia Rose peony! July 14/19

July 30
Peonies are almost done blooming now. (triangle bed) There is one flower on the peony in the wild bed (left side).

Side of house peony- no flowers again this year. Im done with it! Im going to dig it up in a couple of weeks and replace it with my Morden Belle rose which looks spectacular in its pot and it getting another round of beds. Maybe Ill give the peony away to my daughter R who is starting a new flower bed at her place along with some other perennials.

The poppies continue to do well in my Stackstone bed.

Poppies

The blue campanula was 2 weeks late, didn't really start blooming till mid July but they were very pretty.

Blue cluster flower campanula

Maltese cross were very attractive and the beeds and hummingbird love them.

Maltese cross in rock garden July 20

Maltese cross in long perennial bed, July 20

My lilies are looking quite beautiful but they also are lacking the sunshine.

Tiger lilies July 14 

 Orange Double lilies  July 20 rock garden

Roses
July 28
Centennial and John Davis roses are full of flowers now and looking gorgeous. Considering the hard winter they suffered through, I am really impressed!

July 28 Morden Centennial

Once this morden Centennial starts growing and blooming it just goes like gangbusters. I would highly recommend this rose bush.

John Davis climbing rose

This is another really strong rose bush. It is often the first to bloom even though the snow melts off this bed pretty slowly in the spring. It is very hardy and even if the top branches are dead, it regrows a huge amount of stems and foliage and it blooms continually all summer long. I love this bush!

Morden Ruby rose

Morden Ruby Rose has lots of buds now, but the tall daisies and other annuals around it were causing shade and needed to be culled. It is looking pretty but the flowers seem to be smaller than usual.

John Davis again 

Never Alone Rose
I bought this rose last year and overwintered it by sinking the pot into the earth in the vegetable garden. I forgot to cover or mulch it and it survived a really nasty winter. I am so impressed!
I planted Never Alone in the Stackstone bed to replace my Morden Blush.
*( It started to bloom in early August).

Centennial 

Winnipeg Parks rose
This tiny rose bush has a few flowers now which is amazing considering that the poppy seeds I put in that bed tried to take over, grew huge and leggy and then the rain pushed it all over on top of the rose bushes.

White daisies. They photo bombed also all my flower photos, there are so many of them in all my beds. Time to do a major culling. I cut down most of the flowers as they started to go to seed, but it will need more than that to control them.

My friend B gave me some pale green nicotianas that I put at the side of the house, but, man, are they every tall! The flowers are small and white, but not the prettiest things though.

Last year I had Gladiolas galore but this year only 3 of the bulbs grew worth a darn. I guess its best to get new bulbs every year.

My garden flowers are looking so beautiful! :D

Delphinium

Columbine

 Petunias and pansies